At the same time, despite massive tax burden and constant confiscation of wealth, the EU’s average debt to GDP is 90%. Continuously making science fiction estimates of tax evasion and calling to tax the rich as a mirage, has led to unsustainable levels of government burden on the real economy and hinders investment and capital investment as policies are increasingly aimed at taxing the productive to subsidize the unproductive.

The cost of hiper-regulation and excessive taxes to job creation, investment and innovation are evident. The EU has an unemployment rate that almost doubles the leading economic peers, and taxation hinders the growth of SMEs (small and medium enterprises), which shows a ratio of development to large companies that is half the same ratio in the US.

The EU has many positive things, as I explained here. But we cannot let bureaucracy and confiscatory taxation to take over a worthy project. Because ignoring those risks, we would make the EU implode.

Unless the EU politicians change their mindset of a model built on massive taxation and bureaucracy and start putting at the forefront of policy cutting taxes, slashing red tape, more open business, more economic freedom, focusing on job creation and attraction of capital, the welfare state will implode.

The EU’s welfare state can only be protected defending growth, investment, and job creation. However, it will likely be destroyed by the same ones that say they defend “the public sector”. By making it unsustainable.

Daniel Lacalle is Chief Economist at Tressis SV, has a PhD in Economics and is author of “Escape from the Central Bank Trap”, “Life In The Financial Markets” and “The Energy World Is Flat” (Wiley)

1 thought on “Unsustainable? Welfare, Taxation and Bureaucracy”

But why EU politicians are able to keep this working? Because EU citizens have become lazy and they do not supervise EU politicians budget management, why don’t we ask for better taxes management? Why they don’t punish much more corruption or bad managements?

We have a good example here in Spain, why people is not going into the street to riot about IRPF reduction? You say this morning in el economist that money price will rise this year. We are not able to pay current debt interest and we reduce taxes when debt cost is about to rise next year? It will mean that we are reducing taxes to increase them next year. Why are paying almost the same amount of debt cost than half what Health service cost annually?

Welfare state could be as good as private service, but is should be managed as the most efficient enterprise, citizens must ask this to politicians and involve on management supervision, and with the same quality standard and if this happens I’m pretty sure economic growth in EU area will outpace other regions. If people in Spain devote the same time to make sure taxes are spend properly as they expect reading Marca or Hola, I’m pretty sure welfare state will be cheaper than any other option and source for growth since with lower salaries we will have same standard of a living due to the positive externalities welfare state will generate.

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